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Important Tax Information About
Payments From Your TSP Account
Before you decide how to receive the money in your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account, you should review
the important information in this notice. Although the TSP can assist you with your withdrawal, we cannot provide tax advice. Because tax rules are complex, you may wish to speak with a tax advisor before you
make any withdrawal decisions.
You can find more specific information on the tax treatment of payments from retirement plans like the TSP
in IRS Publication 575, Pension and Annuity Income, IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements
(IRAs), and IRS Publication 721, Tax Guide to U.S. Civil Service Retirement Benefits. (See Section 6, Resources.)
1. Your TSP Account Balance
2. General Tax Information
The tax treatment of your payment(s) depends on the
type of money you have in your TSP account. Your
TSP account may consist of a traditional (non-Roth)
balance, a Roth balance, or both.
If you have traditional (non-Roth) contributions
in your TSP account, you have not yet paid taxes on
those contributions or the earnings. You will owe taxes
on those contributions (except contributions made
from tax-exempt pay) and earnings when you receive
a payment (distribution) from your account. You may
continue deferring payment of taxes by transferring or
rolling over the payment to a traditional IRA or an eligible employer plan.
Your traditional (non-Roth) balance is made up of all
employee contributions that you designated as traditional
when you made your contribution election and the earnings on those contributions. If you are covered by the
Federal Employees’ Retirement System (FERS), it also
includes your Agency Automatic (1%) Contributions, as
well as any Matching Contributions made to your account. Earnings on agency (or service) contributions are
also a part of your traditional (non-Roth) balance.
Your Roth balance is made up of all employee contributions that you designated as Roth when you made
your contribution election and the earnings on those
contributions. Earnings on all Roth contributions (including tax-exempt contributions) are tax-free provided
certain Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules are met.
See Section 2.
If you are a member of the uniformed services serving
in a combat zone, your TSP contributions will continue
to be made from your tax-exempt pay. Those tax-exempt
contributions will be deposited into the balance(s) you
choose when you make your TSP contribution election.
THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN
YOUR PLAN
YOUR FUTURE
If you have Roth contributions in your TSP account,
you have already paid taxes on those contributions. You
will not owe taxes on those contributions when you
receive a payment (distribution) from your account.
The tax treatment of earnings depends on whether the
payment is a “qualified distribution,” which means that
your entire payment is distributed tax-free.
The earnings in your Roth balance become qualified, and
are therefore paid tax-free, when the following two conditions have been met:
1) 5 years have passed since January 1 of the calendar year in which you made your first Roth contribution (this is referred to as the 5-year rule1),
AND
1
If you transferred money to your TSP Roth balance from a Roth account maintained by another employer plan, the 5-year clock begins
on January 1 of the year your first contribution was made to your TSP
Roth balance or, if earlier, January 1 of the year you made your first
contribution to the Roth account of the other employer plan.
Tax Notice
TSP-536 (2/2014)
Previous Editions Obsolete
2
2) You have reached age 59½ or have a permanent
disability2 or in the case of your death. (Note: If
you are a beneficiary participant3, the Roth earnings in your account become qualified when 5
years have passed since January 1 of the calendar
year in which the deceased TSP participant first
made a Roth contribution to the account.)
If the payment from your Roth balance is not a qualified distribution and you do not transfer or roll over the
payment to a Roth IRA or Roth account maintained by
an eligible employer plan, you will be taxed on the earnings in the payment. If you are under age 59½, a 10%
early withdrawal penalty tax on early distributions may
also apply to the earnings (unless an exception applies,
see Section 5). However, if you transfer or roll over the
payment, you will not have to pay taxes currently on the
earnings and you will not have to pay taxes on payments
that later become qualified distributions.
In summary, if the payment from your TSP Roth balance is a qualified distribution, you will not be taxed on
any part of the payment even if you do not transfer or
roll over the payment. If the payment from your TSP
account is a nonqualified distribution and you transfer
or roll over the payment, you will not be taxed on the
amount you transfer or roll over. Any earnings on the
amount you transfer or roll over will not be taxed if paid
later in a qualified distribution.
If you have both a traditional (non-Roth) and a Roth
balance in your TSP account, any withdrawals you
make will be paid proportionally from each balance.
Example:
TSP account balance = $10,000; participant
chooses to make a full withdrawal.
Traditional portion of balance at time of withdrawal = $5,000 (50% of total TSP account)
Roth portion of balance at time of withdrawal
= $5,000 (50% of total TSP account)
Withdrawal election:
2
Single Payment = 20%
Life Annuity = 0%
TSP Monthly Payments = 80%
The TSP cannot certify to the IRS that you meet the Internal Revenue
Code’s definition of a disability when your taxes are reported. Therefore,
you must provide the justification to the IRS when you file your taxes.
3
A beneficiary participant is a spouse beneficiary of a deceased civilian or
uniformed services TSP participant who has an account established in his
or her name.
Result:
Single payment = $2,000, comprised of $1,000
(50%) traditional money and $1,000 (50%)
Roth money.
Monthly payments = $8,000. Each monthly
payment will be comprised of 50% traditional
money and 50% Roth money.
Note: Be aware that if you receive a payment from an
account that has both taxable and tax-exempt contributions, your distribution will be paid proportionally from
taxable and nontaxable amounts. Additionally, any payment from your Roth balance will be paid proportionally
from your Roth contributions and earnings.
We report all TSP distributions to the IRS, and to you,
on IRS Form 1099-R, Distributions From Pensions,
Annuities, Retirement or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs,
Insurance Contracts, etc. Distributions from beneficiary
participant accounts will be reported as death payments
on IRS Form 1099-R.
3. Federal Income Tax Withholding
We must withhold for Federal income tax from the taxable
portion of certain payments described in Section 2 unless
you are allowed to request reduced or no withholding for
certain payment types. For purposes of IRS withholding, there are three types of payments: eligible rollover
distributions, periodic payments, and non-periodic
payments. The chart on the next page describes the withholding rates and the rules that apply to each type of TSP
payment. If you are eligible and want to change the standard withholding, you may do so by completing the tax
withholding section on your withdrawal request form.
If you elect a post-separation “mixed withdrawal” (e.g.,
an annuity and a single payment), each type of distribution is treated separately and may be subject to different
tax withholding rules.
We do not withhold for state or local income tax. However, we do report, on IRS Form 1099-R, all TSP distributions to your state of residence at the time of the
- 2 - tax). You may need
payment (if that state has an income
to pay state and local income taxes on your payment.
See a tax advisor or state or local tax officials for specific
information.
Rollover only
Yes
No
No
Yes
Eligible rollover
distribution
Eligible rollover
distribution
Non-periodic
payments
Eligible rollover
distribution
Eligible rollover
distribution
Non-periodic
payment
Eligible rollover
distribution
Non-periodic
payment
Eligible rollover
distribution
Non-periodic
payment
Non-periodic
payment
Eligible rollover
distribution
Payments will be reported for tax purposes by the annuity provider. The annuity provider will send information to participants about making a withholding election.
Partial withdrawal after separation or from a beneficiary
participant account
Required minimum distribution
payments6
Final single payment after a
series of monthly payments
Age-based in-service withdrawal
Financial hardship in-service
withdrawal
Loan taxable distribution —
default by separation
Loan taxable distribution —
default while still employed
Court order payment to a current or former spouse7
Court order payment not to a
current or former spouse
Death benefit from a beneficiary participant account
Death benefit to a non-spouse8
Annuity purchase
Only to an “inherited”
IRA
No
Rollover only (using
personal funds)
No
Yes
20% mandatory
10%
20% mandatory
Not applicable —
money already paid
10%
20% mandatory
10%
20% mandatory
None
Yes — complete line 3 of IRS Form
W4-P.3
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
No
Yes — complete the withholding section
of your payment method election form. 3
Not applicable
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
Yes — complete line 3 of IRS Form
W4-P.3
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
Not applicable
No
Not applicable
No
Not applicable
No
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
No
Not applicable
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
No
Yes — complete line 1 of IRS Form
W4-P.3
No
Not applicable
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
Automatic cash-out (less than
$200)
No
Yes — complete the
withholding section
of your withdrawal
request form.3
Periodic payments
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
Monthly payments based on the
IRS life expectancy table
As if married with 3
dependents
No
Periodic payments
No
Monthly payments for 10 years
or more (requested amount)5
Yes — complete the withholding section of your withdrawal request form.3
Yes — complete tax withholding section of Form TSP-25.
May I Waive Withholding?
Eligible rollover
distribution
20% mandatory
Yes — complete tax withholding section of Form TSP-25.
May I Decrease
Withholding?
Monthly payments for less than
10 years (requested amount)4
Yes
10%
May I Increase Withholding?
Eligible rollover
distribution
No
Non-periodic
payment
Automatic enrollment refund2
What Is the Withholding Rate?
Single payment full withdrawal
after separation or from a beneficiary participant account
May I Transfer or Roll
Over the Payment?
Type of Payment
for IRS Purposes
Type of TSP Payment
Tax Treatment for TSP Payments1
1
Withholding only applies to the taxable portion of the payment (e.g., the earnings portion of a nonqualified Roth distribution.)
2
Withholding rules that apply to refunds of automatic enrollment contributions paid out as withdrawals using Form TSP-70 are based on the withdrawal option chosen on that form.
3
Some versions of withdrawal request forms have tax withholding sections that should be completed in lieu of IRS Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Pensions or Annuity Payments.
4
If the payment is satisfying the IRS required minimum distribution amount, it is treated as a non-periodic payment. See the “Required minimum distribution payments” section of this chart.
5
Payments are treated as periodic even if they are satisfying the IRS required minimum distribution amount.
6
Required minimum distributions are not treated as non-periodic payments (for IRS purposes) if they are part of monthly payments that are expected to be paid over 10 or more years or are part of monthly payments that are based
on the IRS life expectancy table. In these cases, taxes are based on withholding for a married person with 3 dependents, under the IRS withholding rules for periodic payments.
7
Court order payments made to a current or former spouse of a beneficiary participant are treated as non-periodic payments.
8
Death benefits paid to a non-spouse are treated as non-periodic payments if they come from a beneficiary participant account.
3
4
Automatic enrollment refunds: If you separated from
service within the first 90 days of having become automatically enrolled in the TSP, and your balance is $200 or
more, you can request a refund of your automatic enrollment contributions or a withdrawal from your account.
If your account has less than $200 when you separate, the
balance will be sent to your address of record automatically and no federal tax withholding will be taken. (Note:
Automatic enrollment refunds do not apply to beneficiary participant accounts.)
CSRS Participants. Use Form TSP-25, Automatic
Enrollment Refund Request, to request your refund.
You will receive your own contributions (and earnings),
there will be 10% withholding for Federal income tax,
and you will not pay an early withdrawal tax penalty.
FERS Participants. You can use Form TSP-25, Automatic Enrollment Refund Request, to request your
refund. Any Agency Matching Contributions (including earnings) and nonvested Agency Automatic (1%)
Contributions (including earnings) will be forfeited to
the TSP. You will receive your own contributions (and
earnings), there will be 10% withholding for Federal
income tax, and you will not pay an early withdrawal
tax penalty. Alternatively, you can use Form TSP-70,
Request for Full Withdrawal, to obtain your refund.
You will receive your own contributions (and earnings)
and all Agency Matching Contributions (and earnings).
There will be 20% tax withholding, and you may be
subject to the 10% IRS early withdrawal tax penalty.
Also, you will forfeit your Agency Automatic (1%)
Contributions, unless you were “vested” (entitled to
keep them).
Annuities: Payments you receive from an annuity that
the TSP purchases for you are also subject to tax withholding depending upon whether they contain traditional (non-Roth) contributions and/or nonqualified Roth
earnings. The annuity provider will send information
about making a withholding election.
4. Transferring or Rolling Over Your TSP
Distribution
Some payments from the TSP may be transferred or rolled
over into an IRA or eligible employer plan. Such payments,
called “eligible rollover distributions,” are identified on
the chart on the previous page. Be aware that the tax rules
regarding transfers and rollovers can be complicated. You
should consult a tax advisor to ensure that you understand
the tax consequences of such a transaction.
An eligible employer plan includes a plan qualified under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, such as
a section 401(k) plan, profit-sharing plan, defined benefit
plan, stock bonus plan, and money purchase plan; a section 403(a) annuity plan; a section 403(b) tax-sheltered
annuity; and a section 457(b) plan maintained by a governmental employer. Certain eligible employer plans also
accept money designated as Roth.
A traditional IRA is any IRA that is not a Roth IRA, a
SIMPLE IRA, or an education IRA. Tax-deferred money
that is transferred from the TSP to a traditional IRA is
not subject to tax until it is withdrawn from the IRA.
A Roth IRA accepts only after-tax dollars, but provides
tax-free growth. If you transfer your TSP traditional
(non-Roth) balance to a Roth IRA, you must pay taxes
on the funds for the year of the transfer.
Be aware that no IRA or eligible employer plan is required to accept a transfer or rollover. Before you decide
to transfer or roll over your TSP account, you should find
out whether your IRA or plan accepts transfers or rollovers, the minimum amount it will accept, and whether
tax-exempt contributions or Roth contributions, if applicable, will be accepted.
If your payment is an eligible rollover distribution, you
may ask the TSP to transfer part or all of the payment
directly to your IRA or eligible employer plan. If you
receive an eligible rollover distribution in the form of a
check paid to you, you may deposit (roll over) the payment into your IRA or eligible employer plan in certain
situations. The type of plan to which you can transfer or
roll over your payment depends on whether the money
you transfer or roll over is from your traditional (nonRoth) balance or your Roth balance.
Your Transfer and Rollover Options for Payments
From a Traditional (non-Roth) Balance
You may transfer or roll over your traditional (non-Roth)
balance to a traditional IRA, an eligible employer plan, or
a Roth IRA.
Keep in mind that the plan you choose to transfer or roll
your funds into may be subject to different tax treatment
and plan rules (such as different spousal consent rules)
than the TSP.
If you choose to have the TSP transfer part or all of
your eligible rollover distribution, the TSP will make
the payment directly to your traditional IRA, Roth IRA,
or eligible employer plan. Also, the following rules apply:
5
• The transfer of your traditional (non-Roth) balance
to a traditional IRA or eligible employer plan will
not be taxed in the current year and no income tax
will be withheld. Your payment will be taxed when
you withdraw it from the traditional IRA or the
eligible employer plan.
• The entire transfer of your traditional (non-Roth)
balance to a Roth IRA will be taxed in the current
year. No income tax will be withheld at the time of
the transfer. However, you may need to pay estimated taxes to mitigate your tax liability.
• If you are 70½ or older and a portion of your payment is a required minimum distribution, that
portion cannot be transferred. Instead, it will be
paid directly to you after 10% has been deducted
for Federal income tax withholding. This rule also
applies if you are receiving monthly payments and
elect to receive a final single payment that includes a
required minimum distribution.
If the TSP pays an eligible rollover distribution directly to you, and you decide to do a rollover to a traditional
IRA, Roth IRA, or eligible employer plan yourself:
• You will have up to 60 days after you receive the
payment to make the deposit into your IRA or
plan to avoid tax on the amount you roll over.
• The TSP is required to withhold 20% of your payment for Federal income taxes. This means that in
order to roll over your entire payment, you must
use other funds to make up for the 20% withheld.
• If you do not roll over the entire amount of your
payment, the portion not rolled over will be taxed
and will also be subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty if you are under age 59½ (unless an
exception applies).
If you roll over your payment into a Roth IRA, the full
amount rolled over will be taxed in the current year.
Special note regarding tax-exempt money: TSP taxexempt balances in both uniformed services accounts and
the beneficiary participant accounts that result from them
may be transferred or rolled over into a traditional IRA
or a Roth IRA or transferred to certain eligible employer
plans, but only if the IRA or plan certifies that it accepts
tax-exempt balances. Otherwise, the tax-exempt amount
will be paid directly to you. Check with your IRA trustee
or plan administrator to see if the funds will be accepted.
The TSP will transfer the taxable portion of the withdrawal first. Tax-exempt money will be transferred only if
the taxable portion of the withdrawal does not satisfy the
transfer request.
Your Transfer and Rollover Options for Payments
From a Roth Balance
You may transfer or roll over your Roth balance to a Roth
IRA or a Roth account maintained by an eligible employer plan that will accept the rollover. Keep in mind that
the rules of the Roth IRA or eligible employer plan that
receives the rollover will determine your investment options, fees, and rights to payment from the Roth IRA or
eligible employer plan. For example, no spousal consent
rules apply to Roth IRAs, and Roth IRAs may not provide loans. Further, the amount rolled over will become
subject to the tax rules that apply to the Roth IRA or the
Roth account maintained by the eligible employer plan.
In general, these tax rules are similar to those described
elsewhere in this notice, but differences include:
• If you do a transfer or rollover to a Roth IRA, your
Roth IRA (or all of your Roth IRAs, if you have
more than one) will determine whether you have
satisfied the 5-year rule (counting from January 1
of the year for which your first contribution was
made to any of your Roth IRAs).
• If you do a transfer or rollover to a Roth IRA, you
will not be required to take a distribution from
the Roth IRA during your lifetime, and you must
keep track of the total amount of the after-tax
contributions in all of your Roth IRAs (in order to
determine your taxable income for later Roth IRA
payments that are not qualified distributions).
• Eligible rollover distributions from a Roth IRA can
only be rolled over to another Roth IRA. Note:
Distributions from Roth IRAs are paid first from
contributions, then from earnings.
If you choose to have the TSP transfer part or all of
your eligible rollover distribution, the TSP will make
the payment directly to your Roth IRA or Roth account
maintained by an eligible employer plan.
• The transfer of your Roth balance to a Roth IRA
or a Roth account maintained by an eligible employer plan will not be taxed in the current year
and no income tax will be withheld. However, your
payment from that plan may be taxed when you
withdraw it. If, at that time, your payment does
not meet the IRS rules for qualified earnings (see
Section 2), the taxable portion will be subject to
Federal tax withholding. (Note: If your Roth earnings are not qualified and you are under age 59½,
an early withdrawal penalty may also apply.)
6
• If a portion of your payment is a required minimum
distribution, that portion cannot be transferred. Instead, it will be paid directly to you after 10% Federal
tax withholding has been deducted from the taxable
portion of your required minimum distribution. This
rule also applies if you are receiving monthly payments and elect to receive a final single payment that
includes a required minimum distribution.
• If you choose to have the TSP transfer only a portion of your payment and a portion is paid to you,
each payment will be paid proportionally from
your Roth contributions and earnings. Nonqualified Roth earnings that are paid to you will be subject to tax.
If the TSP pays an eligible rollover distribution directly to you, and you decide to do a rollover to a Roth
IRA or Roth account maintained by an eligible employer
plan yourself:
• You will have up to 60 days after you receive the
payment to make the deposit into your Roth IRA
or Roth account maintained by an eligible employer plan.
• If your payment is not a qualified Roth distribution, the TSP is required to withhold 20% of the
earnings for Federal income taxes. This means that
in order to roll over your entire payment to a Roth
IRA, you must use other funds to make up for the
20% withheld.
• You can only roll over your distribution into a
Roth account maintained by an eligible employer
plan if the payment is nonqualified (taxable) and
the rollover amount does not exceed the amount of
the earnings in the payment.
• You cannot do a 60-day rollover to an eligible employer plan of any part of a qualified distribution.
• If you receive a nonqualified distribution and you do
not roll over an amount at least equal to the amount
of the earnings, you will be taxed on the amount of
the earnings not rolled over. You will also be subject
to the 10% early withdrawal penalty tax on the
amount of nonqualified earnings not rolled over if
you are under age 59½ (unless an exception applies).
Beneficiary participants: You have the same transfer and
rollover options that the participant would have had as
described in this section.
5. Other Tax Rules
Repayment of Plan Loans
The TSP must declare a taxable distribution on the
entire unpaid balance (including any accrued interest) of
your loan if:
• You fail to repay your loan in accordance with your
Loan Agreement.
• You miss a loan payment and you do not submit
the amount needed to bring your payments up-todate within the specified time period.
• You do not repay your loan in full when you separate from Federal service.
This means that the IRS will consider the unpaid balance of your loan to be taxable income. In addition, if
you are under age 59½, you may have to pay a 10% early
withdrawal penalty tax on the taxable portion of the loan.
Once a taxable distribution has been declared, the loan is
closed and you will not be allowed to repay it.
If any part of your loan is associated with tax-exempt
or Roth contributions, those contributions will not be
subject to tax. However, the following conditions apply
to Roth earnings:
• If the taxable distribution is declared because you
separate from Federal service, only Roth earnings
that are not qualified will be subject to tax.
• If the taxable distribution is declared for another
reason (such as a default on your loan), the Roth
earnings included in the distribution will be subject
to tax, even if you have already met the conditions
necessary for your Roth earnings to be qualified.
Consult the IRS or a tax advisor for information and advice if
your loan is declared a taxable distribution.
If the taxable loan distribution was declared because
you separated from Federal service, you may be able
to roll it over (within 60 days of the distribution date) to
an IRA or an eligible employer plan using your personal
funds. (See the rollover rules in Section 4.) If you are able
to do a rollover, you will avoid current tax and, if applicable, an additional 10% penalty tax on any taxable portion
that you roll over. Members of the uniformed services can
also roll over tax-exempt amounts if the IRA or eligible
employer plan will accept tax-exempt money.
7
The TSP will send you the appropriate tax form by
January 31 of the year after the distribution.
Additional 10% Penalty Tax
If you receive a TSP distribution before you reach age
59½, in addition to the regular income tax, you may have
to pay an early withdrawal penalty tax equal to 10% of
any taxable portion of the distribution not transferred or
rolled over. The additional 10% tax generally does not
apply to payments that are:
• Paid after you separate from service during or after
the year you reach age 55;
• Annuity payments;
• Automatic enrollment refunds;
• Made as a result of total and permanent disability;4
• Made because of death;
• Made from a beneficiary participant account;
• Made in a year you have deductible medical expenses that exceed 10% of your adjusted gross
income (7.5% if you or your spouse is 65 or over);4
• Ordered by a domestic relations court; or
• Paid as substantially equal payments over your life
expectancy.
Members of the uniformed services: The penalty tax
does not apply to any portion of a TSP distribution
(including a loan) which represents tax-exempt contributions from pay earned in a combat zone.
Relief from the 10% early withdrawal penalty is available
to eligible Reservists called to duty for more than 179
days. The Reservist must have been activated after September 11, 2001, and must have received his or her TSP
distribution between the date of the order or call and the
close of the active duty period. The Reservist may also be
eligible to repay the distribution to an IRA (not the TSP).
Participants should consult with their tax advisors, legal
assistance officers, or the IRS regarding this relief.
4
The TSP cannot certify to the IRS that you meet this exemption requirement when your taxes are reported. Therefore, you must provide the
justification to the IRS when you file your taxes.
Receiving Monthly Payments
Participants receiving monthly payments may change the
amount annually. If you elect to change the fixed dollar
amount of your payments, if you transfer money into
your account while receiving monthly payments, or if
you change from payments based on life expectancy to
a fixed dollar amount, the withholding from the taxable
portion of your payment may change. The withholding
rules will be determined according to whether your new
payments are eligible rollover distributions or periodic
payments (based on your account balance at the time the
payment changes), and whether the payment is taxable,
tax-free, or a combination of the two.
In addition, changing from monthly payments based
on life expectancy to a fixed monthly payment amount
may make you liable for the 10% penalty tax on the
payments you previously received, if you do so within 5
years of beginning your payments or before you are age
59½. To learn more, see IRS Publication 575, Pension
and Annuity Income.
Required Minimum Distribution if You Are Over 70½
If you are over age 70½ and are separated from Federal
service, you must either withdraw your entire TSP account or begin receiving monthly payments by April 1
of the year following the year you turned 70½. In addition, this April 1 date is the deadline for the TSP to start
to distribute the IRS “required minimum distribution,”
a minimum amount of the money in your account that
you must receive each year. For more information, see the
TSP tax notice “Important Tax Information About Your
TSP Withdrawal and Required Minimum Distributions.”
Beneficiary participants: Special rules apply to required
minimum distributions from beneficiary participant accounts. To learn more, see the TSP tax notice “Tax Information About TSP Withdrawals and Required Minimum
Distributions for Beneficiary Participants.”
Special Tax Treatment if You Were Born Before
January 2, 1936
If you were born before January 2, 1936, and you receive
your entire account in a lump sum distribution, you can
make a one-time election to calculate the amount of the
tax on the distribution by using the 10-year tax option and
using 1986 tax rates. The 10-year tax option often reduces
the taxes that you owe. To learn more, see IRS Publication
575, Pension and Annuity Income. The 10-year tax option
does not apply to beneficiary participant accounts.
8
Rules for Nonresident Aliens or Beneficiaries of
Nonresident Aliens
If you are a nonresident alien and you do not have the
TSP transfer your payment to a U.S. IRA or a U.S. employer plan, the TSP is generally required to withhold
30% (instead of 20%) of the payment for Federal income
taxes. If the amount withheld exceeds the amount of tax
you owe (as may happen if you roll over an amount that
the TSP pays directly to you), you may request an income
tax refund by filing IRS Form 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return and attaching your IRS
Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding. See IRS From W-8BEN, Certificate
of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States
Tax Withholding, for claiming that you are entitled to a
reduced rate of withholding under an income tax treaty.
For more information, see also TSP tax notice “Special
Tax Withholding Rules for Thrift Savings Plan Payments
to Nonresident Aliens,” IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax
Guide for Aliens, and IRS Publication 515, Withholding of
Tax on Nonresident.
Death Benefit Payments and Court-Ordered Payments
For information on the tax treatment of death benefit
payments to an individual who is not the surviving
spouse of a TSP participant, read the TSP tax notice
“Important Tax Information About Thrift Savings Plan
Death Benefit Payments.”
For information on the tax treatment of court-ordered payments, read the TSP tax notice “Tax Treatment of Thrift
Savings Plan Payments Made Under Qualifying Orders.”
6.Resources
TSP publications are available from the TSP website at
www.tsp.gov or from the TSP by calling the TSP toll free
at 1-877-968-3778 (TDD: 1-877-847-4385). Outside
the U.S. and Canada, please call 404-233-4400 (not toll
free). You can also send a fax to 1-866-817-5023 or write
to the TSP at the address on the TSP website. IRS publications are from your local IRS office, on the IRS website
at www.irs.gov, or by calling 1-800-TAX-FORM.